On Spritzes, or Something Like Them
The Americano.
Ah, spritzes.
Drinking one used to mean you were a middle-aged suburban woman seeking to dilute your supermarket white wine. Now, it’s something entirely different as our current bar culture has brought forth and embraced the Italian way of drinking, and thankfully so. While I love a bracing cocktail, a spritz is the perfect way to whet the palette before dinner or while cooking it, or if you intend to imbibe throughout a hot summer day without becoming completely besotted. But Aperol Spritzes, while popular, aren’t the only kind out there. This past summer I made good use of some of my current bar mates and took to topping off a couple of ounces of Amaro and different dry vermouths with seltzer, using olives and lemon peels as garnish. But I’ve also made Americanos too (not to be confused with the espresso version).
It’s argued and usually published that spritzes follow a 3:2:1 ratio – 3 ounces sparkling white wine, 2 ounces liqueur, and 1 ounce soda. But I’ve also found versions that are equal parts sparkling white wine, liqueur and a splash of soda. And the original spritzes (created in 1800’s Veneto) were literally just sparkling white wines or red wines with a splash of fresh water. (Like you know who…)
So while there may be some rules for specific spritz cocktails (and I’m generally a proponent of following exact proportions in cocktails), I’m all for going with the suburban middle-aged woman inside us all and creating a drink that isn’t totally measured out but eyeballed to your taste, and just boozy enough.
For this, I usually use a highball glass, fill it with large ice cubes, pour in 2 oz. Amaro (ok, admittedly this I do measure), top with roughly 3-4 oz. of seltzer, and either squeeze in some lemon, or just express some lemon peel atop, dip into the glass and throw in a martini olive. Or sometimes I forgo the lemon step altogether and throw in two olives.
Some other variations you can use include swapping out the Amaro with Cocchi Americano or variations on Dry Vermouth, and lowering the volume of seltzer. But if you must, below are a couple of more exacting cocktail variations that aren’t the typical Aperol Spritzes:
Americano
1-1/2 ounces Campari
1-1/2 ounces sweet vermouth
Soda water
Fill highball or rocks glass with ice, then add Campari and sweet vermouth. Splash with soda, then garnish with an orange twist, or a lemon twist plus olives.
Bicicletta
3 oz dry White Wine
2 oz Campari
Soda water
Add wine and Campari into a glass, then fill with ice and stir gently to combine. Top with soda and garnish with an orange wheel.
Garibaldi Spritz
1-1/2 oz Campari
3-1/2 oz fresh orange juice
Dry Prosecco
Combine Campari and orange juice into a glass, then fill with ice and stir gently to combine. Top with prosecco.
Saluti!